In the case of T. S. Eliot, the difference between the use value of literature and its exchange value stems from the philosophical difference between the inner value of literature and its outer value. In the view of literature from an economic value, its exchange for money means the exchange of cultural and literary capital. Yet, it is not easy to ignore Marx’s concern the about the disturbing author’s consciousness of social criticism and his/her communication with reader’s when a literary work exceeds its worth by a critic in terms of commodity fetishism. But, if insight about human beings and society turns out to be a property of capital as a productive added-value, its literary worth is so satisfying that the fetishism of the reader as a consumer for the book cannot be an irrational action towards the market. From such a view, the study of economics of literature in the case of Eliot, gives us an instance in which we can find the use value of humanities in literature and its exchange value in terms of economics. As a poet, critic, and publisher, Eliot can be a most valuable person in literary history necessary for the study of literature in the light of economics. This paper examines Eliot through the effect of unity between literature and economics on the study of economics of literature and its positive elements in market, such as literary production, publication, distribution, and consumption.

• 양병헌(상지대학교) | Byung-Hyun Yang